When an Ocean Means Nothing
by hideousbeauty
Summary: Nineteen year old Rachel lives in Lima and falls in love with fourteen year old Santana who lives in England. Santana's parents send her to a summer school for girls that Rachel is determined to get into to finally meet Santana. Eventual Pezberry romance. (Trying to decide whether to finish or not...)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So… This was a dream that I had. For those who know anything about me and read this, you can tell I turned it into a Glee thing. But hey, we'll see how far I go with this. My dream was only so long, you know.**

It was the beginning of summer now. It was hot in the thick air of Lima, Ohio. One of the hottest times it had been in years, her father had told her. In her yellow bikini top and denim shorts, she sat on the front porch under the shade, sipping some lemonade that was brought out to her a few moments before. The sweat from the glass gathered and fell to her tan skin, making her shiver in the slightest, most refreshing way. She sat with a laptop on her legs, humming along to the music coming through the buds in her ears. She smiled as a messenger on her screen popped up with the picture of the girl across the world that she had been talking to for months now.

She frowned slightly as the other girl informed her that, for the summer, her parents were sending her to an all girls' type of summer school for the talented. It was a good thing, of course, but it also meant no outside communications for a while. She sighed, pushing her brunette hair off of her forehead before typing in her not-so-happy response to the new information. She looked up and out into the emptiness around her. The houses around her own were lifeless, almost as if no one had lived there in a long time. She assumed that everyone was taking advantage of the heat for a vacation, but she, on the other hand, couldn't do the same. Her even smaller family now couldn't take off to head to the promises of a cool beach since her dad had died. Money was tight and her other father was having to do what he could to provide for himself and his daughter while trying to maintain as normal as a lifestyle as possible.

That was the main reason Rachel hadn't fled to England, where her friend lived, yet. Had they had the money, Rachel would have left the lonely state of Ohio and all of its confusing characteristics behind her. She would have left Finn Hudson and his marriage proposal behind her, Jesse St. James and his love confessions, NYADA and her rejection letter, her dad's death, her so-called friends and all of their remarks… All of it. If she had her way, she'd run off to live with the only real friend she had in a different country. There were other complications, of course. The other girl's parents, for example. Rachel was a little older than the other girl, and apparently that made everything wrong somehow. It's not even as if anything was said….

Except for Rachel falling in love with the other girl over the time.

She had never seen it coming. That's not what their initial meeting had even been about. She thought she was making a new friend over a website who even lived in a separate part of the world. She never imagined… Especially with Finn and Jesse calling on her ever few spare moments. She had never even imagined herself with another girl, but… There was something about Santana. The Latina was so sure about herself, about who she was, that it was just natural and not really talked about. Rachel, on the other hand, had only ever thought about having feelings for one other girl- a Miss Quinn Fabray- but after everything that had happened between the two, Rachel put her feelings behind her and accounted all of the awkwardness to her own sexuality. It was clear that, although ever open to the possibility, she was simply attracted to men. Until she met Santana, that is.

They spent long hours and late nights talking across a computer screen and even more were spent texting at every hour of the day. With the time difference, someone was always staying up late or waking up early to talk to the other. It was long video calls that had to stay hidden on that side of the world, texts that would randomly stop because someone might find out. It was a secret across an ocean. It was difficult, but it was worth it. At least, Rachel knew it was to her. With the distance came the fears, the doubts, that maybe this wasn't as important to Santana and her life as it was to Rachel. Being five years older, she knew that she was looking for what to do with the rest of her life- not the summer. Being fourteen, Santana could be thinking about other things entirely, and Rachel was just a way of saying she had someone. But with the distance, Rachel feared for the other girl finding someone else constantly. It was a struggle, a battle, within herself to stay calm and remember how she felt for Santana. But, of course, it was scary most times. And when the replies took a little longer, when they couldn't speak, Rachel was terrified and waited by the phone. It wasn't like her to be so clingy of another person- unless she was really in love with them.

When another sound came from her laptop, Rachel jumped some, snapping out of her thoughts. Looking back down, her eye grew wider and her jaw fell some. _There are still scholarships available, you know. You could apply, if you wanted to. It's for all ages, and I think they'll even pay for airfare. _This could be it then? The moment that they met? And all the time, she could be showcasing her singing ability to another country. Rachel nodded to herself, eagerly typing in her reply before clicking on the link Santana had given her. She was going to do this. She was going to make it, and she was finally going to see Santana…


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I got a lot more feedback than I thought I would- especially on the first day! So... I guess I'll keep writing about a dream I had…**

A few weeks passed agonizingly slow, and the red circle on Rachel's calendar was slowly getting closer. She laid on her back on the made version of her bed that wasn't slept in last night. She had been laying there, her laptop pulled up on her email for hours as she waited on a reply from the school she so eagerly wanted to attend. She stared blankly at the ceiling for hours, thoughts running through her mind of what it would be like to meet Santana for the first time.

She smiled to herself as she pictured the mental image of exactly what she would wear and what face she would have when she first saw the Latina. She glanced over at the clock on her bedside table and cringed a little as she noted that there were still a couple of hours before Santana would be awake.

Looking back up she let her mind wander back. Would they hug? They certainly couldn't kiss… right? They had made themselves official a little over a month ago now- to each other anyhow. Rachel had no one to tell anymore, only bringing it up when one of the boys would ask her out or when he father actually had a rare, free moment of his time. Over there, on the other hand, she was sure it was basically a secret. Perhaps one or two people knew, but other than that? It had to stay a secret to keep it away from the young girl's parents.

Rubbing her eyes with her knuckles, Rachel sighed. She wasn't sure how she felt about being a secret, but what exactly could she do? She was helpless in this, unable to even say something to Santana about her parents. No matter what she managed to think of to say, she stayed quiet. It wouldn't have been fair, wouldn't be her place to ask Santana to make such a leap in her life… She was stuck. Unable to be known about, unable to leave Santana. That's what scared her most, she was sure. She couldn't stand her life before she met Santana, and she couldn't even bear the thoughts of life without her now.

She tried to think of happier things again- of course to do with Santana. Most things she thought of now had to do with the other girl. She imagined movie-scene moments- dropping her bags and running towards the younger girl at the airport to embrace her. Maybe not though… Maybe it would be something a little more shy? Slowly stepping off the pane and meeting eyes for the first time to simply wave with small smiles, leaving the hugging and such for a later time? Should she wear the yellow sundress that Santana had commented on liking so much that once? Or maybe she should buy a whole new outfit in honor of them meeting for the first time?

Rachel looked over as there was a small knocking at her bedroom door, once again, drawn from thoughts of the future with Santana. Pulling herself up to a sitting position, Rachel flattened her hair down some with her hands before calling for the door to be opened and the only person it possibly could be to come in.

Expecting to see her father walked in, her smile fell as Jesse walked into her room and quietly closed the door behind him. He didn't meet her eyes as he crossed her floor and took a seat in front of her on the bed. It was quiet for a while, neither of them speaking and Rachel's eyes searching the face that wouldn't turn towards her. Hid hands were in his lap, and it was obvious that he had something to say, but for some reason, no words were exchanged.

Finally his eyes met hers. "I ran into your dad at the store," he spoke quietly. "We talked for a bit. England, huh? What about New York? Your dreams?"

Rachel sighed a bit as she looked away from him. She had a feeling that's what this was going to be about. She tilted her head a little bit as she stated simply, "Maybe I have a new dream now."


	3. Chapter 3

"A new dream?" He had practically yelled at her earlier that morning. It had made her jump and instantly brought up her defenses as he continued to shout at her. He said things about giving up a dream she'd had her entire life for a girl she'd never met before. He yelled at her for it being a girl in the first place… He yelled at her- something Jesse St. James had never done and was one of the only ones who hadn't.

Tears filled her eyes as she began to shout back at him. "What is it to you, Jesse? You have no _right _to come into _my _house and tell me what I can and cannot do with my life! I haven't given up on New York completely, I've just realized that I don't want to spend my entire life on the stage- believe it or not. I'm not a robot who only enjoys acting twenty four hours a day! And how _dare _you say anything about her gender! Four of the most important men in my life-"

"I'm not saying there's anything _wrong _with it! I'm saying _you've _never shown an interest in other girls! I thought that I actually still had-"

"A chance? No you didn't! I've told you and _told _you that I had no more interest in you or Finn! Why can neither of you ever respect what I want? Why would you think that forcing yourselves on me would just change everything all of the sudden? I _tried _telling you about Santana, time and time again! You played it off to make yourself feel better! You never list-"

And then he had kissed her. She had slapped him soon after, and then he was gone. She was crying, and he finally left as she broke down on her bed. There was no comforting; Jesse St. James had snapped in trying to get Rachel Berry back. There was no sign in his eyes of the boy that had tried to win her over before. No sign that he was coming back in any way, shape, or form. She had seen only a flicker of this before- when she had first told him about saying 'yes' to Finn.

After Quinn's accident though and postponing the wedding, Rachel had a time to herself to think more clearly about everything happening around her so quickly. That's when her mind had changed, and it only helped more that she met Santana soon after. Months later now though, Rachel was still here in the middle of Ohio and in the middle of all of these issues.

And she was so tired of it all.

Santana knew Rachel's plans for the future, actually had plans almost exactly like it for her own future, but no one listened to that part. They never heard past Rachel putting off New York for a few years- even though it had a lot to do with her even being afraid to be there completely alone, and Santana, being too young to go there with her right now, was the only person she wanted to be there with. Everyone else was stuck in Ohio too- this place of closed minds and short thought processes.

Rachel stayed up that night. She couldn't talk to Santana today because she was spending the day with her family- who, of course, didn't know that the girls spoke to each other- but it didn't stop her from lying there, her phone held against her chest as she wondered about everything. She didn't eat that night, and she heard her father talking over the phone to colleague she remembered meeting once who lived in New York, his voice cracking as he told the man about Rachel's plans for the future now.

She rolled to her side at one point, lifting the screen of her laptop to brighten the dark room. Sighing she pulled up her email, disappointed as she continued to wait for the email that would carry her away from here. She sat there for a moment, her eyes becoming unfocused as she stared blankly at the screen's backlight until finally a tiny chime made her blink.

She titled her head to the side with a smile as she accepted the call.

"Hey, baby girl," Santana's voice came from over the speakers of the laptop as she sat back on screen in her pajamas.

Rachel grinned, "Hi, San," she pulled the laptop over to face her better and focus the camera as she reached behind her with her other hand for her headphones. "I thought you were busy today?"

"I stole a moment before I had to go. It's around three there, isn't it? Why are you even still awake?" Santana pushed a lock of her dark hair behind her ear and looked over towards her door before pulling her own headphones on over her head.

Rachel gave the best shrug she could while lying on her side, smiling as Santana's accented voice came in clearly. "I couldn't sleep without you, I suppose."

"Way to be dramatic," the Latina rolled her eyes but didn't stop the smile from playing at her lips.

Another noise came from over Rachel's computer, and she brought up a pop-out screen of Santana's window with a furrowed brow as she went to discover what the noise was. "San…" She spoke softly.

"Yeah?" Santana raised her eyebrows and waited for another response from the petite girl. Not getting one, she folded her arms across her chest. "What's up, Rach?"

"I got accepted."


	4. Chapter 4

Packing was the easy part. She was Rachel Berry. She'd been packed since the day she applied. The plane ticket was an easy part- the school and foundation had done it all for her and sent it electronically. Goodbyes were easy- there was no one around that day to say goodbye to. Getting in the car that arrived to take her to the airport was an easy part. Flying overseas was easy- she even slept most of the way, confident and excited to be heading off to a new part of the world to meet up with the girl of her dreams.

It was leaving the airport and knowing that she could see Santana at any point that was the hard part.

She had never been so nervous in her life. Being her, this was actually one of the only time she could ever remember being nervous in the first place, so it was all the harder for her. She tried to calm her breathing, but she couldn't force herself up and out of the first chair she had sat in since arriving in the airport in London.

People passed by her, and she felt unnoticed. It was yet another strange feeling. She looked down in her hands to see the phone that had been provided for her and knew it would be too much to call her father now. Besides, she could do this. She nodded to herself. She knew she could. So then why was she still sitting here?

She had downloaded an application on the phone on her way over so that she could at least have some communications with people from back home. Unfortunately, at that time, the only person on was…

_Hey, Quinn. _She couldn't stop her fingers from flying over the keys. She simply needed something from home to get her going. Perhaps even some snide remarks would push her into knowing that leaving was the better option. But no. That's not what she would get, and she knew it. Quinn had changed just as much as she had.

After a few moments had passed, Rachel was sure that the blonde wasn't going to reply to her, and with a sigh, she closed her eyes and listened to the accented voices flying around her. She could pick out a few American accents, but they didn't seem as lost and confused as her. Maybe if she never spoke, no one would know just how much she really didn't belong there, how much of an intruder she really was.

A few more minutes passed before finally Rachel felt a slight vibration in the palm of her hand. Looking down, it wasn't a notification from the application that Rachel was looking at but a text message. Opening it, she felt her breath catch as she read a message from Santana about meeting her soon and to let her know when the plane had arrived. Rachel hesitated, wondering a reply when the phone vibrated again. Sighing with relief, Rachel ran from the butterflies in her stomach.

_Rachel. Are you already in London? It's about time you landed, right? You realize it's 5 a.m. here, don't you? You woke me up._

Rachel's cheeks flushed as she looked at the time on her phone. She had completely forgotten about the time zone change. _I'm sorry, Quinn. I'd completely forgotten about that! I didn't mean to wake you!_

_Whatever. I'm up now. What did you want?_

Rachel sat back in her seat. What did she want? What _did _she want? She thought about it for a moment before licking her lips. She didn't know what she was trying to accomplish by waking Quinn Fabray to be honest. She didn't know what she was expecting the other girl to do. Another vibration made her shake her head and look down.

_Just go see her, Berry. She obviously wants you there. Now leave me alone. Brittany's waking up. _And with that, Quinn's icon switched offline.

With a sigh and quiet curses to herself, Rachel nodded again. Opening the message back up to Santana's, Rachel replied with a smile, telling her girlfriend that she had just landed and was waiting on the car to bring her to the school now.

The car ride over to the building was quiet. The driver had his eyes focused ahead and didn't seem the type to talk. Rachel, who normally wouldn't have stopped talking, was too nervous and too in awe of the things that they assed outside to think of any words to communicate her feelings with. Her body stayed turned towards the door to her left, and her eyes stayed glued to everything outside of the small car with the man who drove on the wrong side.

The buildings outside stood taller than they did in Lima, though they were no New York. But what caught Rachel's eye the most was the rustic feel to the architecture. Somehow these buildings were relaxing her nerves, and she already felt more of a sense of belonging. The building that they finally pulled up to was something that Rachel could only picture in a movie. It was large, both in height and in width. It almost looked like something that could hold all of Lima's population and then some.

Letting her jaw fall some as she climbed out of the car, Rachel stood there a moment, just staring at the building when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind. With a squeak, she was turned around by someone taller than her, that she was now looking up at. Before she could register everything that was happening, a pair of lips pressed against her own….


	5. Chapter 5

Rachel stood stiff for a moment, in shock of what her mind couldn't register. After a quick moment of taking in the fact that she knew exactly who it was that she was now kissing, Rachel let her eyes flutter close and her bag she had been holding fall to the ground beside her. She smiled against the other pair of lips and stood on her toes a bit to wrap her arms around the other girl's neck.

With a crack of thunder, Rachel jumped but was held close against the taller girl's body by strong arms. She giggled as she heard small shrieks across the courtyard that surrounded them and relaxed back into the kiss, surprised at how perfectly their lips were molded together as the first few drops of rain fell. As the cool liquid touched her skin, Rachel shivered and couldn't help but think about the cliché moment that their first kiss was now in the rain. That's when the thought occurred to her.

"Santana!" Rachel finally managed to pull back some, her own hair now soaked and lying against her face in ringlets. She pulled one of her arms from around the Latina's neck to bring her fingertips to her lips as she looked up into the dark eyes looking down at her own. "Santana, that was your-"

Santana smiled and pressed a quick kiss to the petite girl's cheek. "Come on," she picked up Rachel's bag off of the ground. "Let's get in before you get sick from standing in the rain." She laughed a little and pulled Rachel's other bag out of the car beside them and began to lead Rachel across the grass towards the building.

Quietly, Rachel watched after the other girl for a moment before following after. She hadn't been expecting to see the uniformed girl so soon. She didn't have time to prepare for anything. For Santana's first kiss… She smiled to herself though, thinking back on it and bringing her fingers back to her lips. Unexpected had been just right though, she decided, and the rain had been the perfect unplanned kiss. Smiling wider, she caught up to Santana and looped her arm with the Latina's. "I can't believe that you just kissed me in front of everyone." She looked up at the taller girl as they walked together.

"Are you surprised?" Santana continued to look ahead, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips as her eyes seem to stay focused on the front of the building that began to loom over them, casting more of a shadow than the dark clouds above already were.

"A bit," Rachel admitted, turning her attention not to the building but to the faces that the lingering stares were coming from. Was this so unexpected that everyone was as surprised as she was? She looked back to the other girl. "Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble or something?" She asked quietly, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips.

The taller girl shrugged. "I'm not afraid," she said simply as she stopped in front of the door, Rachel stopping with her. They stood there a moment before Santana chuckled slightly and leaned down to press a quick kiss to Rachel's lips. "I can't open the door with your bags in my hands, babe," she mumbled against the smaller girl's lips.

Blushing, Rachel let out a small "Oh!" before unhooking her arm from Santana's and stepping up to take the handle of one of the double doors in her hand. She hesitated a moment before taking a deep breath. Rachel stepped back, holding the door open for the Latina, swallowing thickly as she passed. This was it then.

Santana smiled down as she walked by the other girl. "It's cute. Rachel Berry, nervous. Who knew it was possible?" She laughed lightly at Rachel's pout before leading her into the large, main corridor of the building that they would be living in for the rest of the summer.

The staff members around the corridor all seemed to be looking at Rachel, or that's how she felt anyhow. "Santana," she whispered, getting the other girl's attention before she walked off too far. "They're all looking at me…"

Santana grinned. "They're not, but those who are? It's expected. Everyone found out that we had an American girl coming in, and they got excited." She laughed a little, "In the smaller arts here, we don't get many. It'll wear off, I'm sure."

Santana lead them up to the front desk and began to talk to the slightly cubby, older woman behind the surface while Rachel hung back just a bit to look around on her own. She crossed her arms over her chest feeling quite unlike herself as she felt smaller with each passing person…

**A/N: Sorry about the ending. I'm actually a lot busier than I thought I would be. But I'm doing my best!**


	6. Chapter 6

It'd been two weeks since Rachel had gotten to this new school in a new country with new people. She'd gotten used to the strange routine of waking up extremely early to get to the community showers before anyone else showed up. She'd gotten accustomed to the strain on her ears of being flooded with new varieties of an accent she'd only heard spoken by Santana.

And speaking of which, she was sadly getting used to Santana ignoring her.

Since her first meetup with the younger girl, Rachel found that Santana was quite popular among all of the friends she'd already had before she'd even met Rachel. And since her first kiss with Santana, Rachel found that not very many people knew about her existence- unlike Santana had originally made it out to seem. And they most certainly did not know about Santana's fondness for other girls, and that became very apparent very quickly.

Every now and again, Rachel would pass by Santana and a group that followed her around, used to keeping her head down and making no eye contact now, and she would pick up on bits and pieces of laughter and talks among all the girls about the boys' school not too far away from theirs. And with heavy sighs, Rachel slowly accepted that Santana was quickly turning out not to be the girl that Rachel had fallen for.

Normally, Rachel was a diva. In every sense of the word. She would approach Santana; she would make a huge show about the way that she was being treated after traveling over three thousand miles to see this girl only to be completely ignored after the first day. Normally she would even ask to speak to Santana on the side and try to find out the exact reason for the behavior shown. But... something about this situation terrified the smaller girl.

She was in another country, away from and home, family, and friends. She was an older girl who'd come over to another country in hopes of seeing and being with a girl who was not only five years younger than she but was clearly illegal to be with in every sense as it was. And so with a head that only ever seemed to be hung at this point when it was only ever used to being held high, Rachel would sigh and walk past, keeping up whatever facade the other girl was hoping for. Was it out of love or fer, even Rachel couldn't answer anymore at this point. She fought with herself, determined to say that she'd give the girl she loved anything she wanted, but... The more it continued to happen and the more it was thought about, the more she couldn't bear to think that... maybe that wasn't even the case at this point.

Rachel had made a few new friends since she'd arrived. Girls she roomed with, girls she went to some classes with, flocked to her- mostly for her accent and stories of America at first, and then others stayed for the remnants of her sparkling personality that she usually always carried with her. Of course, some of them had left once the depressing thoughts started creeping in and taking over a lot of her actions. It had only been a couple of weeks; Rachel never expected them to stay after her actions became more apparently slower and sadder.

Still, it certainly didn't help with her sadness.

And her sadness certainly didn't help with her schoolwork either.

In the classes she'd purposely signed up for to share with Santana, she found herself staring off at the other girl, her heart longing for what her mind refused to give way to. In other classes, her mind wandered and her work suffered for it. She found that the only classes she enjoyed and could still excel at were things she could lose herself in- theatre arts and, surprisingly so, dance class. Of course, Rachel Barbara Berry was not going to be anything less than first and the star in her theatre class. Even with distracting thoughts creeping in and not always trying her hardest, no one could touch her prowess. This was her field, her dream. Her passion. Her life was this. But dance was a thing she'd never expected.

She'd been in many ballet classes in her lifetime, since she was three even. But that was no basis for her to ever think that this would slowly become her passion as well. But when her mind was focused on her body being lost, Rachel was... happy even. Her body felt as if it fluidly became apart of the universe, and all of her thoughts jut seemed to wash away- taking worries and stresses with her. She had even started coming into the studio after classes and changing into her leotard and sometimes even dancing to no music at all.

Rachel would never admit it at this point, after all of this that she's been put through because of this girl, that one of the main reasons that her heart really got into dancing was seeing Santana sneak into a few of Rachel's classes and stand in the back, in the shadows, simply to watch. Rachel honestly had no idea why, why she would waste her time sneaking into a class where the instructor usually would not allow, to watch a girl that she'd spent so much time and energy avoiding any other time. Maybe it was that she didn't know anyone else in this class, maybe she just loved watching someone dance as much as Rachel learned that she loved to actually dance. Maybe Rachel was giving herself too much credit to think that the younger girl would be even walking into any place that didn't even take effort to come see Rachel at this point. It could have just been that Santana was there to see someone else entirely. Which upset Rachel, and so she chose to believe the former and expel the rest from her mind.

But she also knew within herself that if Santana was determined to play her little games, then Rachel would be too. No eye contact was ever made between them, and Rachel made sure to shine her brightest, sweat her hardest, and dance her best whenever she noticed the other girl standing in the back corner. If this was something else for her to get used to, so be it at this point.

She had no idea what all of this meant, maybe it was something that Santana's younger mind had come up with and just thought it was the best way to handle things. Maybe it was the best way to handle things. Rachel pondered if perhaps she was being selfish in thinking that Santana should go ahead and just changed her entire life around just because she'd flown over. But... at the same time? She couldn't help being angry. Santana had begged and planned and even helped pay for Rachel to come over to go to this school with her- even after she'd been making plans for New York visits. And so with mixed emotion, simply put: Rachel had no idea how to feel or where to go as far as her actions went now. In all honesty? She wasn't even sure how her feelings went as far as Santana went anymore. How could she possibly be with or love someone who was so... ashamed to be with her?

And that was when it really hit Rachel. That Santana could be _ashamed_ of her. Hence this now downward spiral into a star's depression, if it was even that. Rachel felt wrong saying that she could possibly be depressed, especially over a relationship. But head down, feelings hurt, Rachel was stuck here for a semester's time at the least, and in this situation... all that she could do was get over it and get the name Rachel Berry out even further into the world.

Santana or no, this was perfect promotional time.

* * *

><p><strong>IT HAS BEEN<br>**

**TWO**

**YEARS**

**SINCE I'VE UPDATED **

**THIS THING**

**But whatever. I'm not presenting it with any further comment. **

**Just there ya go. **


	7. Chapter 7

Santana and Rachel met over a forum about the pros and cons of being famous in any aspect. Rachel had been scrolling through random comments on a post that she'd made over two months ago at the time that had been getting some popularity from some fellow pursuers of the Broadway limelight when she came across a specific inquiry from a username linked to a female using the name "BitchyBaby".

If that alone didn't already put a bad taste in Rachel's mouth about going to look at the comment spam that was cluttering her email at that moment and making it impossible for her to continue with her schoolwork, the comments left by the user had nothing to do with Broadway as much as it was a snarky insight into fame gained by doing things such as pornography and things of nature. Although the forum post was vague and open to many other forms of fame other than Broadway, Rachel was appalled. Obviously the previous comments all basically had one thing in mind, and that was a place for Rachel to come to escape to and meet people with similar interests. Not that garbage. With a scowl, she stretched her fingers and began typing away furiously.

After several more comments from both parties, even after everyone else on the post had dropped the conversation for the night, a notification showed up for Rachel in her inbox on the forum website. Licking her lips, she clicked to view its contents as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. It was going on midnight. She was late for her nightly beauty routine, and she was not happy about it.

And so it began. What started as an argument over the differences in opinions on "fame" and "infamy", had somehow turned into a conversation that led to sharing common interests, talking about music tastes, and even finding that they both sang rather frequently and wanted to make a career of it. And Rachel still wasn't sure, even months later, how this sparked such a relationship between people.


	8. Chapter 8

Countless hours had lead up to this trip. Hours of late night/early morning phone calls, endless texts over multiple downloaded applications on cell phones, video calls over laptops, hours spent missing schoolwork or even missing class entirely to sit in campus libraries- things that Rachel would have never imagined doing for anyone and would have never dreamed of doing before she was actual in the action of doing so. Countless hours spent on another human being, getting to know them and getting to love them. It was all so poetic, and Rachel adored the theatricality of the Romeo and Juliet-esque ordeal of it all.

That was, she adored it up until the point that she was across and ocean and sitting up on her bed alone in her room with nothing but memories and tears to keep her company for so many nights. She looked across at the empty bed where Santana was supposed to have stayed for the duration of their schooling and sniffled again as she remembered the other girl requesting another room almost immediately after Rachel had arrived. She hugged her knees to her chest and sighed, even slightly angry at herself for allowing her emotions to control her so much. She'd been through heartbreak before; she knew how to go through the motions. All she had to now was throw herself into her work and pretend it wasn't affecting her at all. Right.

So how could she do that right now at around three in the morning while she couldn't sleep?

With heavy shoulders slumped against her will, she climbed off her bed and decided a new look was in order for her late night adventure. Slipping off her pink tank top and exposing her tanned skin, Rachel made her way over to the wardrobe to rifle through the clothes she'd brought with her. Nodding to herself, she stepped out of her shorts before pulling a skirt from it's hanger. She then chose a sweater she felt matched just right before slipping it over, deciding that looking for a bra was pointless for this attire. Now for the shoes- a simple, black slipper set would suffice.

And then she opened her door as quietly as possible to see a Santana standing there with her first half-raised. Rachel's jaw dropped just slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. With her arms now crossed over her chest and her tiny hip kicked to the side ever so slightly, she cocked her head to the side a little before speaking. "What are you doing out this late?"

"I could ask you the same, Berry." The other girl mimicked Rachel's stance and took on the tone of voice Rachel recognized from whenever there was something irritating around. This made Rachel scoff.

Pushing past the taller girl, Rachel began to walk off down the hallway with no real direction. Lowering her voice as to not wake anyone else up, she rolled her eyes. "I'm actually old enough to go out whenever I feel like; thank you. Don't you need a babysitter or something with you after ten? Or is that what the group of girl following you around constantly is for?"

It took a moment for Rachel to hear a reply, so she looked over her shoulder quickly to see if Santana was still there. Seeing she was still being trailed, she looked back away almost just as quickly. "Trying to be smart with me now, huh?" Her voice was dripping with something that Rachel couldn't put her finger on but flinched at nonetheless. "If you're going to start throwing around age comments, I could just as easily call you an old woman, an old hack, a cradle robber, illegal. You name it. I've probably got a million of them. Go ahead. Try me."

But Rachel stayed silent for a moment. Finally she sighed and shook her head. "I'm not going to fall into childish teasing and taunting, Santana. Say what you came here to say, and then please leave me be." There. That was... something, she guessed.

"I actually came to your room to take you somewhere, Berry. Which you're headed in the complete wrong direction for, and now I'm going to have to do a lot more walking that I really wanted to do tonight." And then Rachel felt a hand gently taking hers, warm and tightly- but of course not too tight.

Surprised, Rachel stopped, taking her hand away instinctively. "Santana Lopez... you've done nothing but ignore and hurt me since I arrived here, and now you're just expecting me to go away with you somewhere that I don't have any idea about and just be okay with everything you've put me through up until this point?"

"Yes." Santana grabbed for the other girl's hand again, and this time was given silent permission. With a tiny smile, she lead Rachel away silently through the halls they'd just traveled through and past both of their rooms. Keeping her eyes set straight ahead, unlike Rachel who was taking in all the sights around her still as she entered a part of the building she'd not ventured to yet, Santana couldn't get rd of the smile tugging at her lips.


	9. Chapter 9

Rachel had stopped marking the days on her calender. She knew without the marks in pen cluttering up where she had actually important dates set that it'd been over five weeks since Santana had even acknowledged her again. In fact, it'd been since that night sneaking out to go watch the sunrise and just sit in silence that Santana had even looked her way. Nothing had been discussed that night. Rachel still didn't have an explanation for why Santana had been acting the way she had. She almost hated to admit it after all the effort that had gone into all of this, but she was really starting not to even care about the reasons. The fact was that it'd happened the way it did, and now she was the only one making any effort into changing things. So, if Santana wasn't going to, neither was she.

Classes were quickly coming to an end for the summer course they'd enrolled in, and Rachel was actually beginning to get excited to be going back home. She'd been keeping up with everything happening in Ohio through Quinn and Jesse, who was trying to message her almost constantly. Apparently at some point, Brittany had moved in with her aunt somewhere in California, and now Quinn was single. Appearing too overly helpful now, Jesse had been trying to get Rachel to ask the blonde on a date once she was back in the states. But Rachel had just shook it off, wondering how much time the two of them needed and if she even really felt that way about Quinn. But with a small smile, she did note that she was proud of herself for even considering it without another thought towards the girl she'd crossed the ocean for.

There was going to be a showcase at the end of classes, and where Rachel would normally be overly excited about it, she'd already made up her mind to go ahead and be leaving for the airport around the time that the event started. Unlike her, she'd not been preparing for anything this entire time. She knew right at the first of the announcement that she had no intentions of seeing Santana perform, and she didn't feel the need to show herself off for the girl or all of her friends that she'd been lying to.

So with bags mostly packed two weeks early, Rachel decided to stop going to the classes that were specifically set aside for participants in the showcase and to use that time to see more of the city around her. She barely knew anything about public transportation or currency exchange rates, but she was Rachel Berry. She could hold her own even in London.

Once in the town, she lost herself to sight-seeing. Her eyes mostly scanning buildings, Rachel didn't even notice that there was girl in front of her dressed all in black with blue-green hair who had her head down in a book heading straight towards her. And when they collided and the coffee Rachel forgot she'd purchased was now soaking her clothing, she almost didn't come out of her clouds until the other girl was bent down in front of her.

"Are you alright?" Her accent was heavier than Santana's and her smile was a little crooked. Rachel blinked at her a few times, still not fully comprehending what had just happened. Rachel's eyes scanned the other girl's face and its piercings and blue eyes. "'Ello? You in there, mate?"

Rachel shook her head and took the girl's hand. Rising to her feet, she looked down at her now coffee-soaked clothes. "I ruined my clothes..."

The other girl laughed. "Sorry 'bout that. Didn't see ya. You a tourist or somethin'? Don't see too many Americans around these parts. Usually just around Uni. Or you lost maybe?"

Rachel couldn't help but blush when she rolled her eyes. "I'm just... Maybe a little lost. But I can find my own way." She went to walk past when the other girl caught her hand.

"Well, let's get you some clean clothes before you go headin' off with that stain all down your front. C'mon. My apartment isn't too far from here."

* * *

><p><strong>I apologize for the length of this one. But I wanted to go ahead and post something while I had it in mind, and I'm not too on my game today- especially with trying to keep this one alive and work on other stories as well.<strong>


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